Angry and Apologetic, Aziz Ansari Returns to Stand-Up

Aziz Ansari: Right Now appears to have taken that criticism to heart. The comic addresses the allegations in the specials first five minutes, using an anecdote in which he was confused with Hasan Minhaj to springboard into the topic.

“Theres times I felt scared, theres times I felt humiliated, theres times I felt embarrassed, and ultimately I just felt terrible that this person felt this way,” he says. Ansari tries to keep his tone bouncy, but his voice seems to dry up as hes talking. In nearly a whisper, he finishes, “Its made not just me, but other people be more thoughtful, and thats a good thing.” He doesnt seem to be able to look at the audience as he finishes, in an awkward silence that greets a stand-up who isnt being funny.

Onstage, Ansari wears a Metallica shirt with jeans—no frills, no posturing. Despite the huge, three-tiered live audience who paid to see him, who stand up when he comes in and again to watch him go, Jonze draws the viewer toward Ansari via an onstage cameraman set so close that the viewer feels knee to knee with him. In the wings of the theater, illuminated by fluorescent lights, we can see even stagehands waiting to hear what he has to say.

Whats immediately remarkable is how uncomfortable, even out of character Ansari seems in this moment; this does not appear easy for him, and its certainly not his preferred stage presence. He begins the special by using his old showmans voice, but immediately, he shrugs out of it. Then he steps back in—suggesting an electric ambivalence with the persona that brought him success, less a reclamation than an endless act of second-guessing it.

The staging of it, the intimate 16-mm camerawork, the Velvet Underground song that opens and closes the special: these are the superficial trimmings of rehabilitation. Ive seen Ansari in seven seasons of Parks and Recreation and two of Master of None. Hes many things, but hes not much of an actor. (In fairness the Television Academy disagrees with me.) His shame, I think, is real. What hes ashamed about is less clear—but to his credit, Ansari doesnt try to claim his own innocence or diminish the story. He is, above all, eager to move on.

In that vein Right Now is not exactly a rollicking barrel of laughs. If anything Ansari seems occasionally wary of his audiences laughter—the comedians singular goal, its raison dêtre. He reaches out to the audience for participation, then scolds its quick reactions. He singles out a few audience members in the front row and finds ways to berate them, turning the limelight onto them for a moment, so that laypeople might feel the heat of intense scrutiny. “Look, were all shitty people,” he says. “Dont you realize in 50 years, were all gonna look back and feel like complete assholes?”

It turns Right Now into the most of-the-moment 2019 production Ive seen yet—a cRead More – Source

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